New board to manage pension fund

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesighe announced that the Government would establish a board of trustees to manage pension fund that is to be created with the amalgamation of the EPF and ETF.

The Premier yesterday in Parliament stated that the new fund would have a combined worth of Rs. 1.7 trillion.

Accordingly, a board of trustees would be appointed by the Constitutional Council for the pension fund. “We will not leave room for politicians and officials to waste resources of this new pension fund as they did with the EPF/ETF funds,” he said.

Further, he also said that the Government would establish an Employment Council that will be managed by members from the civil society, unions and chambers of commerce.

“We will take steps to re-evaluate the antiquated pension system. We will take steps to introduce a new national pension plan that will take the workers and their retirement needs into account” Wickremesinghe stated in his speech.

The Premier also stated that the Central Bank would see structural changes that would enable them to engage in their work in a more independent manner. “The tasks of managing exchange processes and managing the ETF will be taken out of their purview,” he added.